I Became a Gallery Newbie Beloved by Transcendents-Chapter 16: Tower Exchange Meeting (1)

I stood there blankly as another window overlapped the second-floor score screen.

[You will be automatically transferred to the 'Third-Floor Staircase Waiting Room' in 3 minutes.]

Three minutes.

Ignoring the three pairs of eyes staring at me, I crouched down and looked at the orc shaman’s body. My mind was filled with only one thought—grab whatever I could, fast.

I reached for the staff the shaman had used, but the system window that popped up made me let go of it.

[Orc Shaman’s Unique Staff]

Usable only by the orc race.

...Nothing else?

My gaze landed on a necklace hanging from the shaman’s heavily adorned neck, standing out with its distinct presence.

[Sapphire Necklace of Swiftness]

Category – Accessory

Effect: When the central gem is pressed, the player’s movement speed temporarily increases.

Usage Limit: 4 times

Required Level: 10+

Grade: C+

It looked useful enough, so I stored it in my inventory.

After straightening my back, I turned around.

Resellin, the mercenary captain, met my gaze and pointed down the mountain with her index finger.

"Yuseong, we should head down now, right? The sun will be up soon."

Mercenary Rohan was shaking the blood off his sword.

Mage Yunes was busily wiping the blood and flesh from his leather clothing.

NPCs.

No matter how I looked at them, they seemed just like real people.

According to the senior members of the Transcendent Gallery, even if I never met anyone else again, the chances of running into Resellin were high.

Still, disappearing like this without saying anything would make it awkward the next time we met. I figured I should at least say something.

"Uh, see you next time."

"Huh?"

All three of them looked puzzled.

Three minutes was both long and short.

A strange floating sensation lifted my body.

Then, everything in front of me turned black.

[Welcome to the Third Floor.]

When my vision returned, the scene before me wasn’t much different from the second-floor staircase waiting room.

[Second-floor clear reward: 600 coins have been granted.]

[Pandemonium second-floor clear reward: An item has been provided. Check 'Inventory.']

The same clock was mounted on the central ~Nоvеl𝕚ght~ wall.

February 23rd.

Two days until the Tower Exchange Meeting.

Tower Exchange Meeting Date: February 25th, 12:00 PM.

There was more time left than I expected.

But not enough to take on the third-floor stage just yet.

Two days—if I spent them training, they’d pass in the blink of an eye.

As I was about to open my inventory to check the second-floor clear reward, another notification popped up.

《Second-Floor Score Ranking》

1st – Union Leader: 784 points

2nd – In Pursuit: 412 points

3rd – Sinclair: 399 points

4th – Argul: 382 points

5th – Rosetta: 379 points

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⋮

[Han Yuseong: 1,532 points]

[Registering score.]

[Please enter the name to be displayed on the ranking board.]

[Name: ]

The empty field next to "Name" was blinking as if urging me to fill it in quickly.

There was no option to keep my ranking private.

I didn’t particularly mind if it was made public.

After all, the odds of any other climbers realizing that this was me were nearly nonexistent.

Pandemonium—I might be the only one residing in it.

Apart from encountering players at the Tower Exchange Meeting, there was almost no chance of running into anyone.

Sword of Light had been hoping for this.

Ranking high on the scoreboards.

Shaking up and confusing the current top-ranked climbers.

Sword of Light wanted me to achieve something like that.

They had written as much in the chat forum and even in the appendix of the Dragon Slayer’s Sword they had given me.

Other senior Transcendents had commented the same.

Still, using my real name didn’t sit well with me.

What would be a good nickname?

After a brief moment of consideration, I typed in my choice.

[Score registration complete.]

***

Hard Mode, 63rd Floor.

Tower Numbering #35, Hard Mode.

The waiting room on the 63rd floor stretched into a vast landscape. It barely resembled a waiting area—it was more like an entire city.

A man with golden hair, clad in silver armor, sat with his head lowered, lost in thought.

"Union Leader."

Union Leader.

The most famous figure in the Climber Gallery, and the one with the most authority—the leader of the Raid Union—had been called.

Union Leader Targon lifted his head at the words of the raid captain, Belasia.

"What is it, Bela?"

Belasia spoke urgently.

"Open the ranking board. Something strange is happening."

"Something strange?"

Targon's brows furrowed.

This translation is the intellectual property of Novelight.

The ranking screen for the staircase floors was, as expected, sorted by the most recent floors.

"I don’t see anything unusual."

From the 50th to the 62nd floor, his name was listed as first place across the board.

The names from second to fifth place all belonged to his fellow Raid Union members.

Belasia slowly shook her head.

"Not by most recent floors. Sort it by order."

Targon moved his hand.

And in an instant, he understood why Belasia, usually composed, was making such a fuss.

The reason lay in the earliest stage where scores were recorded—the second-floor stage ranking.

《Second-Floor Score Ranking》

1st – Private: 1,532 points NEW!

2nd – Union Leader: 784 points

3rd – In Pursuit: 412 points

4th – Sinclair: 399 points

5th – Argul: 382 points

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⋮

A single, newly ranked first place, highlighted with a golden border.

He had expected that one day, he might lose first place. And honestly, he didn’t care much about the second-floor scores.

But the problem was the gap between scores.

"...1,532?"

The scale was entirely different. A four-digit score?

A score nearly twice his own.

How the hell did someone get a score like that on the second floor?

Belasia muttered under her breath.

"Is it a bug?"

Targon immediately responded.

"No."

His voice was firm with conviction.

"You know the Tower doesn't make mistakes like this."

Belasia wiped the sweat from her forehead and the strands of purple hair sticking to it.

"That may be true, but... is that score even possible?"

She fell deep into thought.

"Could it be... a Pandemonium player?"

Targon once again dismissed the idea.

"If it were Pandemonium, they'd be too busy just trying to survive. That kind of score would only come from clearing the floor in an exceptionally short time or from killing an overwhelming number of monsters. Both of which are nearly impossible in Pandemonium."

Targon assumed the Private player was from Easy or Normal Mode.

Whether they had cleared the stage in record time or massacred countless monsters, it had to be one of those two modes.

After all, if he couldn’t pull it off in Hard Mode, then it was impossible.

And Pandemonium? Out of the question.

Having reached a conclusion, Targon spoke.

"On March 1st, send a message to all floors below the 30th. Tell them to report anyone who might be this 'Private' player."

"Got it."

Belasia hurried away.

The Tower’s messaging system.

Mailboxes existed starting from the fifth floor, one per floor.

Once a month, on the first day of each month, players could send one message through the system.

Before reaching the 30th floor, where they could enter the Climber Gallery, this was a crucial tool for survival, allowing climbers to exchange essential information.

As the distance between them grew, Belasia opened the <Climber Gallery>.

As expected, the gallery was in chaos.

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Just like her conversation with Targon, everyone was discussing the same thing.

Title: What the hell is this 2nd-floor ranking score?

Author: SaveMe

Did everyone see this??

1st – Private: 1,532 points

What the hell is this?ㄴ LOL LOL LOL WTF is this?

ㄴ What kind of monster just came out of the second floor??

ㄴ Come on, there’s no monsters on the second floor. It must have been Easy Mode with a lucky wave of goblins or something.

ㄴ Bullshit. Even if they slaughtered every goblin, they wouldn’t break into the thousands. There’s something else going on.

ㄴ Whatever, it’s just the second floor. The guy probably doesn’t even know we’re talking about him here. Why do you care?

ㄴ Because he crushed the Union Leader’s score. By almost double.

ㄴ If this isn’t just luck and this dude actually has potential, he’ll climb up soon enough.

ㄴ Y’all acting like you didn’t flop your own scores and now you’re trashing the second floor. Come on, this is insane.

Belasia expressionlessly closed the Climber Gallery.

It was too bizarre to ignore. But still—it was just the second floor.

She had seen all kinds of people after climbing to the 63rd floor of Hard Mode.

Many had started strong, only to lose their edge over time.

'...But it is interesting.'

If this person was still on the second floor, they were most likely from 21st-century Earth.

And yet, they were already standing out this much?

'Most of them were weaklings. No magic, no martial arts.'

Belasia mulled over it a bit longer before shaking her head.

***

After confirming that I had taken first place on the second-floor ranking, I opened the Transcendent Gallery.

I clicked on the most recent post with the highest number of comments.

Title: LMAO HOW DID A FOUR-DIGIT SCORE EVEN HAPPEN??

Author: Pioneer

But seriously, what kind of name is Private? LOL Private, really? Anyway, I feel kinda proud ngl. Let’s go for 1st place on the 3rd floor too.ㄴ 1,532 points?? Am I seeing this right??

ㄴ 2nd place has 784, that gap is insane LOL.

ㄴ Why are you proud? If anyone here should be proud, it’s Sword of Light, hands down.

ㄴ What do you mean? We all gave tips and stuff. I kinda feel proud too.

ㄴ Of course we’re proud, dumbass. This is intervention success. We lurk in Climber Gallery, and now our climber just shot up to 1st place. It’s like... validation, you know?

ㄴ Heavenly Demon: Hmph. During the next cross-dimensional trade, I’d like to offer my martial arts manuals.

ㄴ Shrine Maiden: I have finished preparing the talismans, 15322222.

ㄴ Ice Queen: Freeze! Freeze! Show yourself, Climber!

ㄴ ㅇㅇ*: ㅇㅇ I'm here.

A brief silence. Then, a flood of comments.

ㄴ Ice Queen: Freeze, tag—!

ㄴ Holy sh*t, the King of the Second Floor has arrived.

ㄴ The Tyrant of the Second Floor. Damn.

"King of the Second Floor"? That sounded lame.

ㄴ Absolute Monarch: Impressive. This reminds me of when I took 1st place.

ㄴ ??? Monarch, when did you ever take 1st place?

ㄴ Archmage: Well done. The Exchange Meeting is in two days, right?

ㄴ Sword of Light: Good job. Though... I wish you hadn’t used 'Private' as your name.

ㄴ Yeah, dumbass. You should’ve put your full name, Han Yuseong.

ㄴ Sword of Light: Something like Heir to the Dragon Slayer’s Sword, for example.

ㄴ Yeah, uh, no thanks.

ㄴ The Rising Star of the Transcendent Gallery, incoming.

ㄴ Archmage: That’s awful.

Yeah. Definitely glad I went with Private.